[jean_wat]

I am an experienced ebook reader. I travel almost non-stop for business, so I've been reading ebooks on my laptop for years. 2 years ago I started reading books on my iPhone. I often get library ebooks, and read them on my laptop, since there were no readers for iPhone that could easily display ADE epubs.

I picked the Kobo for these reasons. I had already purchased a number of Kobo books, so figured it would work nicely for me. The wifi interface would help when I'm on the road. I pre-ordered the wifi and it arrive in October.

Flash forward 6 weeks, and I am ready to give up. Why?

1) The loading user interface / desktop software.
To load Kobo books, I use the desktop software. It's...okay? I guess? I hate that you have to synch twice (It NEVER seems to load newly purchased books on the first try.) Would prefer a drag and drop file manager style. And why can't I flag what I want to read to selectively load? If I've read a book, I want to take it off the reader! And of course, you can't use it for other books. For epubs without DRM (eg. from Fictionwise), I use Calibre. For library and other ADE books, I use ADE. So 3 pieces of software just to keep my reader current!

2) The user interface on the reader itself.
I HATE that you can't sort by Author, make categories, or any other selective sort. Seriously, between the pre-loads (100), my purchased Kobo books (~200, which again, are all or nothing), it's already brutal to find the one I'm looking for. (Is "the" included in the sort? No, so "The Sentimentalists" is under S. But "A" is included! "A Fine Balance" is under A. Why? WHY? Indefinite articles are just more special???) Add in a minimum number of other books and I am irritated to begin with.

Add in the fact that there is no goto page and I am frequently screaming with frustration. Because....

3) It will NOT HOLD A CHARGE.
Randomly, without any use, the battery will completely drain. At this point, all bookmarks and % read markers are lost. For library books, which seem to have no chapter markers, it means you have to PAGE THROUGH THE ENTIRE BOOK to get to your place. This happened this morning for about the 50th time, and I wanted to cry. I was about 90% of the way through "The Sentimentalists", a library book, and the prospect of clicking the button endlessly just pushed me over the edge.

Yes, I have called CS about this. It's hard for me to do so, given the travel issue. I opened a request in October, and NEVER HEARD BACK. Have I called since? I've tried, and a) lost the connection on my cell phone, then b) was on hold then got hung up on etc, or c) not been able to use the toll-free number from where I was, with no other options. I have tried emailing, and also adding a comment to my original request, but no response.

If I could keep it charged all the time, I would, but since they won't let you do that on a plane I'm out of luck.

4) Other irritants
- Wifi. Entering a secure key with the "keypad" is not fun. Since I have to do this at every hotel and office it's even more fun. Also, why doesn't the wifi connect automatically? Since I've had to reset the Kobo about 5 times, I've given up on the Wifi. I'm not going to enter a 30-digit key every time, especially given that it barely works when "working".

- Button placement. If I were right-handed, I'm sure the button would be more convenient...but I'm not. (Also, rightys never want to give their dominant hand a rest?)

I am Canadian, and really wanted to love it! But it just doesn't work for me in any way. Unless I hear that a magical new firmware update is in the offing which will solve all my problems, next time I'm home I plan to drive to the nearest Chapters (~1.5 hrs away), and insist they take it back.

Sorry for the rant, I just have spent too many hours trying to get this working!